Meet the entrepreneurs.

Besharam

Executive chef Heena Patel uses fresh Californian ingredients to recreate the home-cooked Indian dishes taught to her by the Gujarati women of her childhood.

Besharam means ‘shameless.’ I am kicking off the stereotype of Gujarati women—and to everyone who said I could not do it, with Besharam, I’m saying, I can do it.

Heena PatelExecutive Chef

Why did you start Besharam?

I didn’t imagine that I will have a restaurant. Nobody in my family has one. I feel like Gujarati women are raised to cook excellent food for their family but never train professionally. My grandmother or my mother always said, “I wish I would’ve done this. I wish I would’ve done that.” I heard that so many times growing up. For me, I want to do whatever I feel like doing. I strive for that. I didn’t stay home. I went outside. This opportunity was not given to me. I worked for it.